“Old Qi, it’s bad, bad, bad! Your boy totally screwed it up!”

Chen Junnan burst through the door and started yelling.

At this moment, Tiantian, Han Yimo, and Qiao Jiajin were all waiting in the “preparation zone.” They were watching Qi Xia contemplate something on the screen.

Hearing Chen Junnan’s shouting, Qi Xia slowly turned around and said softly: “Speak slowly. What happened?”

“Just now…!” Chen Junnan pointed behind him with his hand. “Wen Qiaoyun and I each pulled out a chain to gamble. She lost a chain to me, but I didn’t lose my chain. She still guessed that I don’t have ‘Cannon’ on me. She also said one person among you, Lawyer Zhang, and Old Qiao has ‘Cannon.’ Then I gave Doctor Zhao a look, but Doctor Zhao actually isn’t anything…”

Chen Junnan rattled off a long string of words, making the atmosphere in the room exceptionally quiet.

“Old Qi, do you understand…?” Chen Junnan blinked and asked.

Qi Xia was silent for a few seconds before answering: “I understand. You won a chain.”

“What the hell do you mean won a chain?!” Chen Junnan said with a wronged expression. “Wen Qiaoyun tricked me! She really tricked it out of me!”

“I know.” Qi Xia nodded. “And after tricking it out of you?”

“After tricking it out… I didn’t say anything and just left directly.” Chen Junnan said. “What else could your boy say? Compliment her a couple more times?”

“Excellent.” Qi Xia said. “The ‘psychological attack’ is fully complete. Let’s start breaking them down one by one.”

“No… Old Qi, do you really understand?” Chen Junnan said. “Wen Qiaoyun is no different from before! She’s terrifyingly formidable!”

“You’re not bad yourself.” Qi Xia thought for a moment and said, “Were the ‘characters’ on you exposed?”

“The ones on me…” Chen Junnan paused. “Shouldn’t be.”

Chen Junnan slowly unwrapped the two bundles of socks, revealing the “characters” inside.

One “Horse,” one “Advisor,” and finally a “Marshal” in Chen Junnan’s pocket.

It looked like he had made full preparations, but before he could unfold his messy schemes, Wen Qiaoyun had disrupted his rhythm.

“Isn’t this very good?” Qi Xia said. “You rushed in front of them with three ‘characters.’ Not only did they not rob you, they also think you only have one ‘character’ and it’s not ‘Cannon.’ From certain perspectives, we won.”

“Really…?” Chen Junnan found it hard to believe. “Your boy counts this as winning?”

“From now on, you can be any character except ‘Cannon.'” Qi Xia nodded. “The ‘psychological attack’ has already succeeded.”

“But Old Qi…” Chen Junnan said with a hesitant expression. “There are many clever people on the other side…”

“Don’t worry.” Qi Xia said. “The opposing side’s advantage is ‘too many strategists,’ and their weakness is also ‘too many strategists.'”

“Eh…?”

“Except for Zhang Shan and Jin Yuanxun, everyone on the opposing side thinks too much.” Qi Xia said. “Even if you just circle around in front of them once, they’ll keep guessing your purpose.”

“But I don’t have any purpose…” Chen Junnan shook his head and said. “When your boy goes crazy, I don’t even know what I’m doing myself.”

At this moment, Qiao Jiajin suddenly thought of something and said happily to Chen Junnan: “That’s right! I heard ‘fools beat masters.’ Looks like this saying is talking about you, Junnan Boy!”

“Old Qiao, I really thank you so much for the compliment.” Chen Junnan said expressionlessly. “If there’s nothing else in the future, better compliment less.”

“Why aren’t you happy?” Qiao Jiajin stepped forward and put his arm around Chen Junnan’s shoulder. “Junnan Boy, don’t be unhappy. I’m also very foolish.”

“That word ‘also’ really doesn’t make me happy.” Chen Junnan said. “Old Qiao, stop comforting me. Go over there and see if there are any dumbbells and lift them for a while.”

Qi Xia withdrew an “Advisor” from Chen Junnan’s hand, walked to Tiantian’s side, and handed the “character” to her.

“Returning it to its rightful owner.” Qi Xia said.

Tiantian accepted her “Advisor” somewhat puzzled and asked: “Qi Xia, didn’t the rules just say we ‘cannot freely exchange characters’? Why could Chen Junnan rush up there carrying our ‘characters’ by himself? Now you’re returning his ‘character’ to me… doesn’t this count as ‘exchanging’?”

“Of course not.” Qi Xia said. “This ‘character’ wasn’t ‘exchanged’ to you by Chen Junnan—I just snatched it from Chen Junnan’s hands.”

“‘Snatched’…?”

“And you didn’t give your ‘character’ to Chen Junnan either—he snatched it from you.”

Tiantian was startled, remembering that Chen Junnan had indeed taken the “Advisor” from her hand earlier, and just now Qi Xia had used the same method to take the “character” from his hand before exercising the “Marshal’s” right to distribute it to her.

No wonder such an unconventional move—the “referee” had never come out to stop it. Everything was within the rules all along.

“Earth-Dragon said…” Qi Xia said. “We can use any means to seize ‘characters’ from anyone’s hands, including our own people. It’s just that the person who loses the ‘character’ has to wait in the preparation zone.”

“I see…” Tiantian murmured while looking down at the “Advisor” in her hand.

Qi Xia had told her that in ordinary chess, the “Advisor” was the last line of defense protecting the “General-Marshal.”

Unfortunately, in this game, only the weak would get the “Advisor.”

“By the way, Old Qi!” Chen Junnan said. “Just now I had that kid deliver a message to you. Did you receive it?”

“I received it.” Qi Xia said. “Looks like the other side thought the same as us—they both discovered this game’s hidden rule: ‘crossing the river.'”

“Crossing the river…?” Tiantian and Qiao Jiajin were puzzled.

“In ‘Xiangqi,’ some pieces cannot ‘cross the river.'” Qi Xia said. “But in this game, Earth-Dragon didn’t mention the concept of ‘crossing the river.’ This very likely is a trap. No matter what, someone needs to test this trap. Let’s try to have the other side ‘cross the river’ first. After we confirm the consequences, we’ll act.”

After hearing this, Qiao Jiajin turned to look at the wall: “Liar Boy, which ‘pieces’ can’t ‘cross the river’?”

Qi Xia also turned to look at the wall, pointing at the characters on it and saying: “Normally, ‘Advisor,’ ‘Elephant,’ and ‘General-Marshal’—these three types of ‘pieces’ cannot cross the river. They can only move in their own territory. In other words, if we see someone appear in our area in a while, their identity can only be ‘Horse,’ ‘Chariot,’ ‘Soldier,’ or ‘Cannon.'”

“So…” Chen Junnan also followed along in thought. “Old Qi, what do you think will happen if we ‘cross the river’?”

“Hard to say.” Qi Xia shook his head. “There are simply too many possibilities. I don’t know which rule Earth-Dragon and Qinglong ultimately decided to use.”